You know, I must have grown up and lived in an entirely different part of the United States than you did.

Where I grew up, an interest in animals was considered not particularly normal - certainly my teachers did not encourage my lunchtime activities watching and trying to catch the whiptails, bluebellies and skinks on the school grounds, nor did anyone other than my parents ever try to get me interested in anything like that.

Only class pets we ever had were a canary someone brought in for a couple of weeks, the hamster I donated when we couldn't keep him at the apartment we moved to and the occasional goldfish. We certainly weren't allowed to bring in animals we'd caught! Believe me, I tried...

Over here we have nature walks too... but in New Mexico, the trailheads ALL said "Leave only footprints, take only photographs."

Except for the ones that make laws about whether you can keep iguanas or the majority of snakes in New York (you can't), the folk who push for mandatory spay/neuter unless you buy a breeder's license (California), the government agencies that say you can't keep certain exotics (Ferrets and Quaker Parakeets in California, African Soft Furred rats and Gambian Pouched Rats anywhere in the US), the folk who instigate breed bans... maybe you're seeing things from a totally different perspective, but I sure grew up knowing that the HSUS wasn't out there to help people KEEP pets... it was out there to KEEP people from keeping pets.

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- Ssthisto





Lizards: 2.1 E. macularius, 1.2 H. caudicinctus, 1.0 R. ciliatus, 0.2.1 A. fragilis, 1.1 T. merianae, 1.0 V. niloticus ittibittius
Colubrids: 3.5.12 P. guttattus, 1.0 P. guttatus X E. climacophora, 1.1 P. o. rossalini, 1.0 P. o. lindheimeri, 0.1 E. anomala, 0.1 C. radiatus
1.2 Lamprophis spp, 1.0 L. g. nigritus, 0.1 L. g. californiae, 1.0 H. n. nasicus, 1.0 P. m. melanoleucus
Boids: 1.1 E. c. maurus, 0.1 E. conicus, 4.1.5 P. regius, 1.1 A. maculosa
We HAD a three-bedroom house... Current lodger: 1.0 E. c. maurus